The following article was attached to the burial register of
Audley parish church, on the page containing entry 1559, Maria Smith. Under her
name in the register are the words "Coroners inquest". The article is from
The Times, Saturday July 30, 1881.

Within the last few days a discovery of a very shocking
character has been made at Halmerend, and resulted in some equally shocking
disclosures. About ten week’s ago a girl named Maria Smith, thirteen years of
age, suddenly disappeared from her home in that village, and inquiries
subsequently instituted failed to elicit any information as to her whereabouts.
The child’s mother was dead, and her father was cohabiting with another woman,
and, as the home was not a very comfortable one, it was at first supposed that
the girl had gone to some relatives at a distance, but this surmise proved to be
incorrect. On Monday Police-sergeant Dodd mentioned the matter to the coroner,
at whose suggestion a thorough search of the neighbourhood was made, particular
attention being paid to disused pit shafts. On the rails erected round an old
shaft at Hayes Wood some threads were found, and upon a descent of the shaft
being made the body of the girl was found at the bottom in a shocking condition.
The corpse was raised to the surface, and removed to the Boar’s Head Inn. The
discovery caused considerable excitement in the neighbourhood.

On Wednesday Mr J Booth, coroner, held an inquest on the body
of the deceased, at the Boar’s Head Inn, Halmerend.

The first witness was Samuel, jun., who deposed to descending
the old pit shaft at Hayes Wood in search of the missing girl and finding the
body at the bottom.

Jane Staley stated that she had lived with James Smith, the
father of the deceased, for seven years, but was not married to him. On the 20th
May last she told the deceased to do some work, and she grumbled at having to do
it, whereupon witness remarked that she should be a great deal better off if she
had not the deceased to keep. The girl went upstairs and did the work she had
been told to do, but afterwards left the house and did not return. The girl was
stupid and would not do any work without a good deal of grumbling.

In reply to the Coroner, witness said she had not thrashed
the deceased as much as was stated by various people in the village, nor had the
girl ever expressed her intention of committing suicide. Deceased had sufficient
clothing, but she did not always put it on.

One of the Jurymen said the last time he saw the deceased in
the street she had neither shoes nor stockings on, and when asked how it was she
said she had none to put on. Other Jurymen also spoke to seeing the deceased
about poorly clad, and in a sadly neglected state.

James Smith, father of the deceased, identified the body as
that of his daughter, by the clogs on her feet. He was not aware of anything
which should cause her to commit suicide, nor had she ever complained of being
thrashed by Staley. He had once thrashed her, but that was through the policeman
saying he had caught her on some trucks after coal. He certainly never heard her
make any remarks as to destroying her life, nor had he any suspicion that she
intended such a thing. He was quite sure that she was not thrashed on the
evening before her disappearance.

A youth named James Lockett said that on the day the deceased
left her home he met her going in the direction of Hayes Wood. She was crying,
and said to him, "Well, Jim," and he replied, "Well, Maria." She appeared
greatly distressed, and made for the direction of the pit in which she was
found. Deceased did not say anything as to where she was going, nor had he
mentioned the matter to anyone else.

Margaret Bowers, sixteen, said the deceased was a companion
of hers. She had often complained of being ill-treated by Staley, and on several
occasions she had pulled her jacket off and showed witness her back covered with
bruises, which she said had been caused by Staley thrashing her with a strap.
She had also said on two occasions that if her mother continued to ill-treat her
in such a manner she should destroy herself, as she could not stand that
treatment.

Elizabeth Shufflebotham, fourteen, said she knew the deceased
perfectly well, and was talking with her the morning before her disappearance.
She said she was almost ready to make an end of her life, as her mother
ill-treated her so. Witness had often seen deceased’s flesh black and blue
through being thrashed by Staley, and on different occasions deceased had said
that she could not stand this treatment much longer, as it was more than she
could bear.

The Coroner, in summing up, said the jury would have no
difficulty in finding a verdict. There was sufficient evidence to prove that the
deceased’s mother so-called had ill-treated her in a shocking manner, and this,
no doubt, had led to the unfortunate end of the girl. Although it was proved,
however, that such was the case, the law provided no punishment for such
persons, although they richly deserved it.

The jury found that Maria Smith was found dead at the bottom
of an old pit shaft, but how she got there is not sufficient evidence to show.
At the same time they were strongly of opinion that the ill-treatment received
at the hands of Jane Staley was the cause of the deceased’s untimely death. It
was the desire of the jury, therefore, that the Coroner should give a severe
reprimand, for her brutal treatment of the deceased.

The coroner then called Mrs Staley into the room, and said
that the jury were strongly of opinion that the ill-treatment had been the cause
of the deceased’s death. Instead of properly looking after the children she was
allowing them to run about in a shocking condition, and he was only very sorry
that he had not the power to punish her in the manner which she deserved. She
was a disgrace to her sex, and to those by whom she was surrounded, and if it
had been in his power he would have severely punished her.